Woo boy, this is a fun one to share.
Ronan started walking yesterday. REALLY walking. I have some footage of it, but I still haven’t caught him walking around when we’re not looking – the times where it doesn’t look like he’s just doing it to impress us. I’ll post a video of that as soon as I get it.
But that’s not really what this blog post is about. This one is about Ronan’s first public melt down.
We went up to have lunch with Brock a little late, because Ronan had a super long nap. I would never complain about that. But we didn’t get up to Brock’s work until around 2:15. We had lunch, dropped him off back at work, and headed home. I wanted to stop at Target even though I could tell that Ronan was getting sleepy in the back seat. I just had a FEW quick things to grab, so I decided to chance it.
Parked close to the front doors at Target, grabbed a cart and ran it. No pit stops, just directly to the items we needed, and then to the cash register line. We were there for less than 15 minutes at that point.
Int he line, the woman checking out in front of me started to talk about how beautiful my baby was. She was talking to him, and he was smiling back like the big ol’ ham that he is. Everyone started noticing, and he was showing off – laughing and chatting at whoever would pay attention. I just laughed and told him he was being a big flirt, and pulled out my wallet to pay for my purchase. Before she left, the other woman remarked, “What a GOOD baby!”
I got up to the payment area where the little credit card slider is, and Ronan did what he always does. He grabbed the ‘pen’ and started ‘writing’ on the tablet. I let him, because I always do, and asked him, “Are you gonna pay for mommy? How nice!” Of course, everyone laughed.
But then came the moment where I had swiped my card, and needed to type in my pin. I started to pull the pen out of his fingers, and he protested immediately. He grunts very loudly when he’s displeased. Instead of just taking it from him, I handed him my bank card – usually off-limits, so often a good bargaining chip. He took the bank card… but didn’t let go of the pen. With so many people in line behind me, I had to be firm. I pried his fingers open, and took the pen.
He started SCREAMING.
Not crying, not hollering, but high pitch, top of his throat SCREAMS. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him pitch a fit so loudly. I typed in my pin, and he reached forward and grabbed then pen again. I wasn’t quick enough to avoid him. He stopped crying, but I wasn’t done checking out yet. I had to hit all the buttons, and you can’t just use your finger. So I had to take it away AGAIN to push that I accepted the charge, and that Yes, I wanted it all on the card, and No I didn’t want any cash back.
His screams this time made the first fit look mild.
His face started turning red, and I could see the back of his throat. Everyone around me started laughing uncomfortably… you know it’s kind of funny to see a kid throw a fit, but it sort of sucks at the same time. The check out girl started trying everything she could to distract him – handing him stickers, trying to make him laugh, sticking her tongue out at him. Nothing worked. He screamed until the moment we walked out of Target and the cold air hit him in the face. There were tears streamed down his cheek, and his nose was a runny mess of snot.
I asked him, “Was that really necessary? I guess we’ll never push nap time again!” I didn’t really expect to be that embarrassed when it happened to me. I couldn’t do anything! Just finish my purchase and walk out of the store.
I guess, though, at least we’ve got one of those under our belt… and maybe it wont be so bad the next time it happens.
